BRUSSELS, January 28, 23:45 /ITAR-TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday that it was important for the Syrian parties to agree a kind of declaration on principles of the future Syrian state as a next step on a path of conflict settlement.

“It is important to see to it that the next step of principal significance is the agreement by the Syrian parties of a kind of declaration or any other document that will lay down the principles to serve as a basis for the Syrian state,” Lavrov said, adding that Lakhdar Brahimi, a United Nations mediator, was addressing this issue.

Lavrov said that the Russian side wanted both the Syrian opposition and the Syrian government to confirm their commitment to the principles of democratic, sovereign, territorial integral and secular Syria. Apart from that, according to the Russian foreign minister, it would be welcome if the parties spoke in favour of secure and peaceful co-existence with Syria’s neighbours.